


Kittens And Stones

by FujurPreux



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Meet-Cute, Pre-Canon, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 22:44:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15828453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FujurPreux/pseuds/FujurPreux
Summary: Steve and Bucky first met when they were children and while Steve was in the middle of a fight. Because how else.Written for the Trust and Vows prompt oftrope_bingo





	Kittens And Stones

Bucky held up the rock in front of his eyes for a throughout examination even if his heart wasn't on it. He prided himself - and was widely recognized by the other kids in the neighborhood - as a great shot who hit his mark more often than not. But it wasn't all luck, as the more envious types liked to say. It was the combination of technique and the right tools. Bucky happened to own a state-of-the-art slingshot - a wonderful term he had learned while overhearing a conversation between his father and a friend. He had saved for it for an entire month, and he didn't regret a single cent. The handle was rough and wouldn't let his hand slip, no matter how for how long he used it, and the rubber was the exact same length for both sides, allowing the projectiles to fly in precise and elegant arches.  

Of course, to reach that effect, he had to find the right ammo, rocks that were the right size and had the right balance, a task more difficult than it sounded. Bucky had spent the entire morning looking and he had only found two. Three now, with this one, he decided, and he slid it in his pocket to join the others. Two more and he could start looking for trash cans he could use for target practice. He lowered his eyes again to continue his search, carrying on with it because he had nothing else to do.  

He wouldn't admit that to anyone out loud, but he missed school. At worst, it gave him something to do in the mornings. Right now that he had finished his chores, he was just drifting. Maybe it wouldn't be this bad if most of his friends weren't in the process of moving away that summer as their parents looked for and found jobs. Good friends were more difficult to find than good rocks.

Bucky discarded two more rocks and was about to pick up a third when his baby sister came running into the alley. She clutched her new doll against her chest, and she was crying. Unlike him, she hadn't had to save any money for it. She had gotten it as a birthday present, and she loved it dearly. Yes, perhaps Bucky resented the situation a little bit, but right all of that became irrelevant. Now, her crying took relevance. Her crying and her no longer perfect braids and her dress covered with mud.

"What happened?" he asked, hurrying to meet her and check that she was fine. "Is someone after you?"

She shook her head many times, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and hugging him as soon as he was close enough. Her head reached all the way to the middle of his chest.

"They're hitting him!" she exclaimed between sobs. "Richard Leonard and his friends!"

That name rang so many bells. Richard and his band were some of the biggest bullies around, and they liked to prey on whoever was smaller than them. But that didn't give him the full picture.

"Who are they hitting?"

"The other boy! The one who helped me!" She sniffed and seemed to realize she needed to add more details. "I was walking down the street when Leonard tried to take away my doll! But then this boy tackled them and got my doll back and told me to get away but they started to hit him!" She began to cry loudly again.

"Where are they?"

She gave him directions and Bucky rushed there, although not before telling his sister to go back home.

When he got there, the fight was still going on. Leonard and his group were indeed ganging up against one small boy. About the age of Bucky's baby sister, judging by the size. However, despite the bloody lip and the back eye, this kid gave - or tried to give - as hard as he received. He kicked and punched and bit wherever he could reach. Fierce as a kitten. And all kittens, small as they were, could still draw blood.

Perhaps, in a fair world where his only opponent was Leonard, he would have had a chance of coming on top. But those were three against one, and Bucky, even though he tried to stay away from trouble as much as he could, he found himself unable to just stand there and play an innocent bystander. This boy was taking a beating because he decided not to be one and protect Bucky's sister. The least he could do was to return the favor, wasn't it?

Bucky's hand went inside his pocket and produced one of his perfect, difficult-to-find rock. He recognized the point of no return as he put it in the slingshot's pocket, and he willingly crossed the threshold when he made it fly all the way to Leonard's shoulder. The projectile produced a yelp and soon, Bucky was sure, a big bruise at the point of impact.

The surprise stopped also the other two, and now the entire group looked around for the culprit. 

_ Now take the chance and get away, _ Bucky thought in direction of the strange boy.

Yet, instead of doing the sensible thing, after standing up, the kid wiped up the blood from his upper lip and readied his fists again.

_ Dammit! _

By then, Bucky had been found out, and it would be impossible for him to get away without leaving the boy behind.

_ Dammit! Dammit! _

Seeing no other option, Bucky took out another stone and prepared the slingshot again. "Leave him alone or say goodbye to your teeth, Leonard," he said, faking calmness. 

"This is none of your business, Barnes," Leonard replied.

"You should have thought about it before going after my sister," Bucky replied and revised his aim. "You know I can do it. I can break your teeth and your friends' teeth from here."

"You're going to regret it!"

"But who's gonna regret it first?" Bucky shot the second stone, letting pass right next to Leonard's cheek, close enough for him to feel the wind around it, and he reached out for a third. His last one, but they didn't have to know that. "That was a warning. Next one won't be."

Leonard then did the classy bully thing. Instead of showing fear or remorse, he called his goons and told them to leave. The pair of them followed him, although not without glancing back at Bucky from time to time, because he didn't stop aiming at them until they turned around a corner and got out of sight.

Once that was done, he pocketed away and went to the boy, who was busy glaring at everything. Bucky specially. 

"I had it under control!" he said. 

Bucky decided not to dispute that. Instead, he shrugged. "The girl you helped was my sister. I had to do something." That seemed to mollify the boy a little, so Bucky decided to risk it and offered him his hand. "I'm Bucky."

"Steve," the boy answered, shaking Bucky's hand after a brief moment of hesitation. 

"So, you're new around here?"

"We moved in yesterday two blocks from here. Didn't expect to find bullies so soon."

Bucky shrugged. "There are bullies everywhere. It's a sad fact of life."

Steve sighed and looked at his pants, which were torn at the knees. "Mom's gonna love this."

Bucky smiled. Moms 'loving' bruises and torn clothes was another sad fact of life. "Come to my house. We can clean you up and then I can go with you and explain what happened. It has to count for something, right?"

Steve considered it for a moment, but then he agreed and followed Bucky back home. 

This, this was how Bucky earned the angry kitten's trust, and he vowed to continue coming to his aid if he had to. Which he ended up doing a lot during the course of their lives, even if it exasperated him at times.

Yet, the biggest surprise of that day came when he found out that Steve was his age and not his sister's. Well, another reason to admire his guts, then, something else Bucky kept doing all the way until the end.


End file.
